The new unsymmetrical 1,4-diazabutadiene ligand glyoxal
bis(2-(methoxymethyl)-4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl)diimine (L) and its reduced
analog (LH
4
) were synthesized.
The reactions
of both ligands with bis(benzonitrile) complexes of palladium and
platinum, MCl2(PhCN)2,
were investigated. Two isomers of formula
MCl2
L were isolated from the reaction of
L with
MCl2(PhCN)2 (1a and
1b for Pd, 2a and 2b for Pt), while
only a single product,
MCl2(LH
4
),
formed in the reaction with LH
4
(3 for M = Pd, 4 for M = Pt). All new
compounds were
characterized by elemental analyses and IR and NMR spectroscopies.
The molecular
structures for L,
LH
4
, 2b, 3, and
4 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
The
metal complexes exhibit distorted square-planar geometry. The aryl
groups of the L and
LH
4
ligands lie out of the
coordination plane in a manner that blocks potential axial
ligation
sites. Ligand L crystallizes in the triclinic space
group P1̄ with a = 5.760(1) Å,
b = 9.383(2)
Å, c = 14.954(3) Å, α = 89.38(2)°, β
= 79.67(2)°, γ = 88.14(2)°, and Z = 1. The
reduced
ligand LH
4
crystallizes in the
monoclinic space group P21 with a =
5.9758(1) Å, b = 17.4272(2) Å, c = 15.6222(1) Å, β = 99.063(1)°,
and Z = 2. Complex 2b crystallizes in the
monoclinic
space group P21/c with a
= 16.9599(2) Å, b = 18.4985(2) Å,
c = 12.4976(0) Å, β = 100.945(0)°, and Z = 4. Complex 3 crystallizes in the
monoclinic space group C2/c with a =
36.1506(8) Å, b = 8.0994 (2) Å, c = 15.5671(1)
Å, β = 113.988(1)°, and Z = 4. Complex 4
crystallizes
in the monoclinic space group C2/c with
a = 36.0649(3) Å, b = 8.1787(2)
Å, c = 15.7585(3)
Å, β = 112.610(1)°, and Z = 4.